Our country is no longer controlled by, and for, We the People, but instead by, and on behalf of, international banking and multinational corporate interests. While the gradual, almost imperceptible takeover of our government by this corporate fascism has been evolving by design for many decades, it is a coup d'etat nonetheless and has been disastrous for the vast majority of Americans. This blog is an exploration and discussion of how this occurred, and the damage it has done to our democratic processes.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

It was reported last week, but not by any major news outlets that I know of, thatBloomberg Newstook the Federal Reserve to court and won. A Freedom of Information Act request put together by Bloomberg had allowed the hard numbers to finally be made available to the public about the loans the Fed gave out to keep financial firms afloat in the middle of the last economic near-collapse. The aristocracy of wealth was unofficially bailed out, at the tune of $1.2 trillion, while about 6 million homeowners currently owe about the same amount on delinquent and foreclosed properties. (See who made out, and with how much, by clickinghere.)

Obviously, despite the back-door bailout, it hasn't made getting a loan at your local bank, or refinancing with your mortgage lender, easier if even possible. So, what's the deal? If these banks are flush with our cash, which by the way include foreign banks and other non-U.S. lenders, why is liquidity stalled and our economy slipping toward a replay of a couple of years ago? Maybe financial intermediaries, i.e., banks, don't want to be the grease that keeps the economic engine of our commerce going any longer. Maybe it's just not profitable enough to loan to Main Street any more. Maybe the banks are lending it, but they're lending it to their elite clients, i.e., their hedge funds, who in turn leverage it from 10 to 100 times the value of the near zero interest loans that the Fed bequeathed them. And, maybe this is what's been artificially driving up stocks and bonds and commodities (gasoline and foodstuffs), and at the same time shorting the U.S. dollar. And, is this why the banks are signaling for a continuation of the recently dissolved quantitative easing ("QE2") and are hungry for QE3, then QE4, and so on and so on, because they know these unregulated and under-supervised funds are bleeding their reserves away as quickly as the Fed replenishes them? Or, are they just sitting on a mountain of money -- our money?

Whatever is happening, one thing's for sure. The lending institutions are making out like bandits. While they're drawing interest on public funds given to them to stay alive, they're capitalizing into derivatives, commodities, precious metals, and god knows what else, while we're feeling the double-whammy of increased food prices, increased energy costs, and increased everything. It's like when we played Monopoly as kids, and one person had everything. Their stack of money just sat and didn't help anyone. All we could do was go around the board and hope to land on Community Chest (i.e., public assistance) or Free Parking (i.e., the lottery), but eventually we knew it was just a matter of time before we were sucked down the drain with the little money we had left. Our only other hope was going to jail. In our current real life scenario, that's not a pleasant thought.

Maybe, starting onOctober 6th, that's what we should all do. H.D. Thoreau would be proud. Think about it, then join us.

Here's a report from RT, interviewing an economic analyst named Max Fraad Wolff, about this disclosure last week. There's really nothing extraordinarily revealing about what he says, but I have to admit, the guy's extremely smooth in his delivery and his demeanor. The discussion about the Fed loans begins at about 2:50 into the video.

45 comments:

So this demonstration in D.C. on 10/6, I have some questions.....how will millions of people get INTO D.C. when there will likely be roadblocks and security checkpoints that will make getting into a rock festival seem easy ?? Won't the establishment plant trouble makers to act violently and allow the man to open fire a la Kent State ?? Should we wear bulletproof vests to this event ?? Will we be considered " terrorists " and rounded up and made to disappear ?? These are just the concerns I have off the top of my head, I'm sure I'll have more as I ponder whether this event will be where myself and Gypsy Bob announce our Woodstock Nation Party candidacy !!

Everywhere these progressives have had control they have ruined: Detroit, california, D.C., N.Y. and on and on. They are dumbing down the education system and rewriting history..liberalism is a disease!

These dems are now running from Obama just like they ran away from Wisconsin when the GOP won and they couldn't handle the truth, they have no principles or patriotism. I fought the commies with the gipper in the 80's and now i have to fight them here on American soil....we have to rid this country of these people and let freedom and liberty ring once again, and oh yeah!! i was born and raised in socialist England and am now a REAL PROUD AMERICAN and through my rotten teeth i know first hand how socialism works..it makes everybody miserable!!!

The Democrat Party/Unions are almost the same as the Nazi Party except instead of murdering millions of Jews the Democrats support the continued Genocide/Murder of Millions of Unborn (Babies) Americans.

Fact:

The Nazi party were Socialists and liberal environmentalists too.

The National Socialistiche Duetsche Arbeiter Partei (A.K.A The National Socialist German Workers Party), referred to as the Nazi Party had several key party platforms:- Universal Education- Guaranteed Employment- Welfare for the Elderly (Social Security)- Nationalization of Industry- Nationalized Health Care- Abolition of market-based lending

So, Anonymous, please explain something to me. How does your tirade relate to the Fed secretly doling out $1.2 trillion to financial intermediaries around the world? Somehow, I'm missing the connection.

Anonymous is engaging in the wingnuts' favorite pastime, rewriting history to jibe with their own fascist belief system.

Anonymous, I suggest you and your delusional ilk actually attend university and study history, political science, and sociology - a real school, not the store-front bible colleges you loons seem to gravitate to.

One of the first things Hitler did when he became Chancellor was to close all the family planning clinics, outlaw contraceptives and abortion, and fire female professors. He hated and persecuted liberals, gay people, feminists, and communists. Many of these folks ended up in concentration camps.

The National Socialist Party was not "socialist" in the sense that socialism is understood in Europe, which you would know had you ever studied political science.

Oh, and Hitler was not a vegetarian, or necessarily pro-animals rights. (He loved dogs). But what would that have to do with anything if he had been? He was a health and hygiene freak who regularly undertook cleansing regimens which involved no meat, but his favorite dish was said to be Squab.

But as Jeff said, what does any of that have to do with the topic at hand? Are you really that stupid, or merely so programmed that you can only discuss the topics assigned to you? Just curious.

It's interesting how you wingnut extremists are clearly operating your little infiltrate-the-progressive-websites agenda all over the web. How ignorant, and how sad. Get a life, get a job; other than this, I mean.

You're not dissuading us from the facts with your lame attempts at disruption and diversion. And you don't even have the balls to post using an actual name...can't you at least think of a fake one? God, you're pathetic!

"...how will millions of people get INTO D.C. when there will likely be roadblocks and security checkpoints that will make getting into a rock festival seem easy??"

If they go to that trouble, that would be a great sign! Tens of thousands of workers flood into D.C. every morning between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Even on a good day, without any major tie-ups like accidents, traffic moves at a crawl on the major freeways and thoroughfares into the city. Checkpoints would effectively shut the city down.

"Won't the establishment plant trouble makers to act violently and allow the man to open fire a la Kent State??"

I'm sure they will! October2011.org is billed as a nonviolent and peaceful demonstration. As a matter of fact, the website asks that people pledge to be there. By pledging, you're also signifying your acceptance that violence will not be an option.

"Should we wear bulletproof vests to this event??"

Sure! You're free to wear what you want. Be forewarned, however, and wear something! This is not a clothing-optional event!

"Will we be considered 'terrorists' and rounded up and made to disappear??"

Terrorists? Gee, Ellis, you're probably already considered a terrorist. It's a fair bet to assume the government already monitors all blogs they view as leftist and anti-corporatist. You were undoubtedly labeled a "terrorist" long ago, just like me. As far as disappearing acts, I'm sure there will be a fair number of magicians (and mimes!) to entertain us and while-away the hours. Consider bringing your Gibson SG. ;-) There will be plenty of music lovers there, I'm sure!

Anonymous (AKA Just the Facts! and assorted other monikers), once again you exhibit your naivety and total misunderstanding about what's happening right now. Either that, or you're a liar. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Obama's not a socialist. Not even close. He's a corporatist, through-and-through, and has revealed himself to be time and time again. If another label, other than corporatist, were also appropriate, I'd say he's just another neoconservative like his predecessor. As a matter of fact, I've often referred to him as Bush III. But you already know I feel this way about him.

Let this message be a warning to you. If you think, even for a minute, that I'm going to allow you to hijack the discussion on this blog, as you have attempted on Tom's or Dave's, then you're sadly mistaken. Very sadly mistaken.

Jeff, I don't think Anon-y is even sane. Seriously. As we read his hysterical, frothing spew of nonsense, it's obvious that his remarks have nothing to do with the discussion at hand, or what anyone here has ever expressed.

It's sad, really. In times past, folks like him would have had a nice, quiet room and lots of medication in a state mental hospital somewhere...

Of course, after the repug-corporate-fascists decreed there would be no more public money for anything except corporate welfare and war mongers, most people can't access mental health services anymore.

Which makes one wonder: Perhaps that was part of the repugs' underlying agenda - to make sure none of their ilk ever had to reside in a mental hospital again!

I like your analogy J's G : Monopoly. I will add it to my post for Monday if I may (crediting your blog and you of course). I've been collecting political analogies this week. :-)I can't add anything intelligent to the core issue of this post though.

I won't be able to join the protest in DC in October (too far to drive from OK, and no public transport available) but will be with y'all in spirit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@ Anonymous ~~ I too was born and raised and lived until age 60+ in England. I don't recall it being anything near socialistic, especially after Thatcher's time in power. Even before that any democratic socialism was of the mildest sort, set to help the country and its people get over the devastation of WW2, which you probably do not remember. I do.

My teeth are not rotten thanks to a succession of wonderful NHS dentists. I am in very much better health and shape for my age than Americans of similar age group. Thanks to the NHS and lifestyle in the UK.

I am now an American citizen - proud of this beautiful land but not at all proud of the people running it - the Democrats in name only who are really doing the bidding of plutocratic corporate powers that be.

Obama a socialist? You have to be deluded or kidding - or being paid to disrupt blogs with whom your employers disagree.

I sorta feel "Anonymous" is just a throwback to a bygone era; a time when every small town or hamlet had what they considered their village idiot -- a person widely known in their community for their stupidity and ignorant behavior. The blogosphere, nothing more than a network or community of like-believers, still retains that element of medieval times. Most villagers just ignored these unfortunate characters, walking on the other side of the street when necessary, but often it became necessary to banish these unsavory types when their antics infringed upon the rights and sensibilities of others.

"It's time to start calling people out - because there's no more room in this critical debate over America's future for individuals who are fundamentally anti-American. That includes the politicians - the so-called newsmen - the phony economists - and the greedy CEOs who have no problem destroying this nation just for a few bucks. They spew poll-tested terms like "job creators" to push for even more tax breaks for transnational corporations that already pay nothing in taxes. While forgetting that this nation was founded as a result of an anti-corporate revolt against the world's largest transnational corporation at the time - the British East India Tea Company. They call up hucksters like Thomas Friedman to tout so-called Free Trade policies that sell off our factories and manufacturing jobs to the lowest bidders around the world. While forgetting that our nation's first Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton laid out an 11-point plan literally called "The American Way" that promoted protectionsism and promoted American industires - and NOT so-called Free Trade. They give millionaires and billionaires the power to run amok in our politics - claiming that corporations are people - and as people have a right to free speech - and to dump as much money in our elections as they damn well please. While forgetting that none of the founding fathers considered corporations important enough to not even mention them in our nation's Constitution.

And that the author of the Declaration of Independence himself - Thomas Jefferson - had a deep-seated mistrust of too much corporate power and fought tirelessly to include freedom from monopolies in the Bill of Rights. Jefferson described corporate powers-that-be as, "the selfish spirit of commerce (that) knows no country, and feels no passion or principle but that of gain." Jefferson's tradition was carried on by both Republican and Democratic Presidents throughout the nation's history like Grover Cleveland who said, in his 1888 State of the Union address, "As we view the achievements of aggregated capital, we discover the existence of trusts, combinations, and monopolies, while the citizen is struggling far in the rear or is trampled to death beneath an iron heel. Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people's masters."

"Thomas Jefferson", in light of this post's topic I think a more appropriate quotation would have been:

"If the American people ever allow private banksto control the issue of their money,first by inflation and then by deflation,the banks and corporations that willgrow up around them (around the banks),will deprive the people of their propertyuntil their children will wake up homelesson the continent their fathers conquered."

----Thomas Jefferson (1802), in a letter to then Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin

Twilight, of course! I don't blog for fun or profit; only to convey the truth and denounce falsehoods and revisionist history. Always feel free to use whatever material or resources you may find interesting or beneficial!

Americans wanted to experiment with Marxism and voted a Marxist president, Marxist House, and Marxist Senate and Obamaville is the result.

Obama then nationalized 1/6 of the private sector (health care) and 2 American car companies to save the union pensions.

Don't forget the constant bashing of "the rich" and Vegas and the private jet industry.

The result is American corporations are scared silly - they are shipping jobs and their companies to non-Marxist countries like China. Those jobs are gone forever and the companies won't be coming back just to pay the highest corporate taxes of any county on planet earth.

All because Americans wanted to play Europe and be a Marxist/Socialist utopia.

OMG - you truly are delusional as well as developmentally disabled. China a non-Marxist country?? Do you even know what Marxism IS??! China is the communistic biggie of them all, you asswipe! Companies have moved jobs there to make more money, because they can employ child and slave labor in sweatshops, in which the workers make about two fucking dollars per day!! Companies also don't have to pay health benefits because the state provides it!!

I only WISH the healthcare here was nationalized! Most of us don't even have the option to buy into Medicare!! It's ALL RUN BY FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS, you ridiculous ninny! WHERE IS THE SOCIALISM????

Since you're so opposed to public commons and public benefits, please make sure you don't use the library, don't collect Social Security or use Medicare, don't call the police or the fire department, and don't get any mail. Or drive on the highways. Because all those are run by the government and are socialist!!

Do yourself a favor, Bozo - get some therapy. Maybe there's a rehab program somewhere quiet and remote, where they can detox you off wingnut hate radio, Faux News, and the repuke fringe talking points of the day.

The so-called EmoProgs are egocentric malcontents that suffer from self-importance and unrealistic expectations that all Americans share their ideology.

Not only do they fail to acknowledge the country does not share their single-minded vision, but they lack an understanding of the power a president possesses.

It is expected that ignorant teabaggers lack rudimentary understanding of presidential power, but seemingly intelligent Liberals who think the president is a monarch informs their misunderstanding of the Constitution. They also lack a realistic understanding of the electorate.

The extreme left are laboring under the mistaken belief that all Americans are hard-left extremists.

The egocentric left either cannot or will not acknowledge that America is a right-leaning Centrist population that rejects the EmoProg’s agenda on principle alone.

"...American corporations are scared silly - they are shipping jobs and their companies to non-Marxist countries like China."

Huh? China's not a communist government? Since when? You've totally lost all credibility (as if you had any) with that statement. That's sixth grade material.

"Those jobs are gone forever and the companies won't be coming back just to pay the highest corporate taxes of any county on planet earth."

Well, you're technically incorrect. (Probably because you listen to too much Faux News, and don't do your own research.) Although it's near the top for corporate rates around the world, this certainly isn't the reason that companies build manufacturing plants outside of the U.S. As Anna very adeptly pointed out, it was so they could pay slave and near-slave wages, and also eliminate benefit packages.

And to Anna, you made this incorrect statement (among many):

"The extreme left are laboring under the mistaken belief that all Americans are hard-left extremists."

Not true. Many on the left, particularly the far left, think most Americans have been propagandized by the corporate-dominated media they've come to rely upon. The corporate media (i.e., the mainstream media) are a tool of the corporate-state. Period. It's guilty of diluting and distorting the news to a citizenry that has lost all touch with reality. The corporate media are the propaganda tool, not unlike the state-owned media of non-democratic and repressive regimes of the past -- primarily, however, dependent upon the omission of facts and truth in its "reporting" of events.

Anonymous (AKA ArchieBunker), it's unfortunate that you don't understand. You fail to see the difference between what you label "anti-capitalist" and capitalism gone wild. You haven't a clue, apparently, as to what predatory capitalism is, or how this nation evolved from a democratic republic to a full-fledged corporate-state.

You don't understand and differentiate between the word "anti-corporation", as you termed it, and anti-corporatism and anti-corporatocracy, which is what I actually espouse.

But, why would you understand? These concepts are undoubtedly too threatening to you; too upsetting to your misguided worldview and dream paradigm. The world you live in doesn't exist any longer, but you're too frightened to openly admit the reality that's taking place right in front of your eyes.

Good luck, Archie, 'cause you're on the same sinking ship as I am. I hope you have a sustainable lifeboat, 'cause the sharks will be circling.

JG....your reply to my concerns regarding the Take Back The Amerikan Dream event scheduled for 10/6 in D.C. leaves me with a very uneasy feeling. I'm certain steps will be taken to minimize the number of folks able to get to D.C. to protest. I just don't see how a large number of citizens exercising their Constitutional right to travel will get into D.C. unimpeded. That will be the first shit-storm. Once assembled, as soon as the plants start trouble the wrath of the establishment's high tech weaponry both lethal and non-lethal will be the second and stronger shit-storm. Those who survive will be arrested on some bullshit charge such as disorderly conduct with some chosen folks getting hit with trumped up terrorism charges. The cost of legal defense for those able to afford their own lawyers will be huge. Those who get court appointed counsel will probably cut deals and keep the whole issue from getting the publicity and attention it deserves. It's cool that a guy like Professor Robert Reich plans to be there along with other public figures. I just hope these folks know what they are getting into because I don't think it will be pretty after shit-storm one and shit-storm two !! See this demonstration goes against the establishment's mantra of War, Hate and Insanity and will not be well received.........Vote for PEACE, LOVE & SANITY Woodstock Nation Party in 2012 !!!!

As previously mentioned, your "s**t-storm one" isn't going to happen, simply because vehicles and public transportation are free to travel into, and out of, Washington each and every day. To entertain the thought that each car, each bus, or each train, will be stopped and searched, and its riders forced to "show their papers", as it were, is ludicrous. It's just not going to happen. (Note: Yet, that is, unless we're all living under martial law by then, for whatever reason.) Secondly, as far as your "s**t storm two" scenario, I agree anything is possible.

But, the bigger and more pressing question is: Should this be the reason you relinquish your constitutional rights to free speech and to assembly? I don't know, Ellis, maybe you haven't seen your life turned and twisted enough, yet, so possibly the risk isn't worth it to you. Maybe you're of the persuasion and feeling that things will improve, that it's just going to take some time, and you're willing to take the "wait and see" approach. I don't know. I'm actually surprised by your resistance and disclaimer to the act of protest and civil disobedience. I've always been of the impression that of anybody...of anyone I know in the blogosphere...that you'd be the one to stand up against the tyranny of the corporate-state -- no matter the inconveniences; no matter the risk. I guess I was wrong.

Chris Hedges (Ellis, do you read his columns regularly?), said it best:

"We may feel, in the face of the ruthless corporate destruction of our nation, our culture, and our ecosystem, powerless and weak. But we are not. We have a power that terrifies the corporate state. Any act of rebellion, no matter how few people show up or how heavily it is censored by a media that caters to the needs and profits of corporations, chips away at corporate power. Any act of rebellion keeps alive the embers for larger movements that follow us. It passes on another narrative. It will, as the rot of the state consumes itself, attract wider and wider numbers. Perhaps this will not happen in our lifetimes. But if we persist, we will keep this possibility alive. If we do not, it will die."

Well JG traditionally those who protest are those with little or nothing to lose and/or those so oppressed that death is a viable alternative to continuing a miserable life. As to your belief that impeding the free travel into D.C. just couldn't happen the establishment will do a cost/benefit type analysis of that and decide it would be well worth it to close down the city to prevent this demonstration from occurring and getting publicity. There are many pretenses the establishment could use to justify such an intrusion the treat of " terrorist " activity being foremost. What Hedges is forgetting is that any act of rebellion can and will be treated as a terrorist act and with the numerous unconstitutional laws now in effect such as the Patriot Act all bets are off on what rights to protest WE THE PEOPLE still have. So yeah JG SOMEONE does have to ruffle the establishment's feathers but these demonstrations need to be coordinated nationwide and demonstrators need to be prepared for the worst. This ain't your grandmother's establishment we are dealing with here. These psychopaths are ruthless and to them our lives are cheap, VERY cheap. So I would participate locally in a well coordinated massive nationwide protest, but not an event such as Take Back The Amerikan Dream. I'll donate money for the legal defense of those arrested and donate money to the families of the brave folks they will kill but that's the extent of my support. As to your belief I would favor this type of protest, if I did not have a family to support I'd be on the front lines with a bulls-eye on my tee shirt !! I guess it is selfish to put my family ahead of fighting back against tyrants but unfortunately that's my reality. I'm not happy about it but my days of martyrdom I'm afraid are over. If I truly believed this was a fight that could be won I'd possibly feel differently.

Ellis, thanks for your comments. They're appreciated and valued, no matter how much I disagree with them.

Protesters aren't always the downfallen, but I will agree that they are the oppressed. Whether that oppression takes the form of a "miserable life" worth continuing, I do take issue. Persons in our history, such as Jefferson, Washington, Franklin and others, are substantial proof of this.

I guess the real question is this: Where's your own particular line in the sand? At what point do you, Ellis, take a stand to risk life or limb? How many rights will you allow to be taken away before you revolt? Will it be when you're stopped by the police to show your national ID card, and you're told to authenticate your whereabouts? Will it be when the authorities break down your door and rifle through your personal belongings, without proper warrant? Or, will it be on a more macro-scale when your government robs your national treasure and plummets your fellow citizens into economic obscurity? Where do you draw the line, Ellis, and exactly when do you take a stand?

Each person has to answer these questions, and only each person can answer these questions. I've answered them for myself -- as have thousands of others.

JG, I'll admit I wasn't a history major but the founding fathers you mention to me were REVOLUTIONARIES and not " protesters " or " demonstrators ". As I mentioned, I have a responsibility to my family to stay alive and stay out of jail. If I was only responsible for myself I'd be the 21st century Abbie Hoffman leading and organizing some real hell raising believe me. My line in the sand was crossed by the establishment long ago, I just don't believe there is much that can be done about it in the marked cards, stacked deck Amerika of today. The only way to get change today is the way our founding fathers did it and that won't be pretty for anyone. As I said previously, to have any positive effect at all these demonstrations need to be local, well coordinated and nationwide. First of all it is unrealistic to expect folks to travel to D.C. from all over the nation. I think right there the turnout is being limited solely by economic considerations. Also a well coordinated nationwide demonstration would have more impact, more publicity and more participants. The event on 10/6 seems to me to be more of an " upper middle class " protest and shuts out the majority of what is left of what was the middle class now the " upper poor ". I'll bet someone sells real neat tee shirts and coffee mugs etc. to make some bucks off this demonstration. But I fully support those who do go to the event and make their voices heard.

Bad ankles and injuries have taken a toll. Sadly, my marching days are over. I put in my last one in March of '03, with the rest of the civilized world against the Neocon war of agression.

There'll be a crowd. Possibly larger than the tea cult, but the media will certainly downplay it and marginalize the cause.

I'm afraid the only event that will wake up Americans will be an economic collapse. And that is one thing we can trust the greedheads to accomplish. Maybe then we can rewrite/amend the Constitution to eliminate corporate personhood and cash as free speech.

Dave, your thoughts about a modern day constitutional convention are something many are contemplating. I'm seriously considering attending the exploration meeting in Cambridge on September 24th and 25th.

Although teabaggers and progressives make very strange bedfellows, there is a commonality here that's worth investigating.

"Ron Paul's inference in the debate five nights later - that a thirty-year-old uninsured accident victim might be forced to "just die" - drew hoots and shouts of "YEAH!!!" from these animals. Isn't that sweet? Such compassion!"

There were 3 or 4 YEAHS at 1:05 in the following section of "Ron Paul's inference in the debate":

http://www.youtube.com/v/b4Am2bWQRNw?version=3&hl=en_US

The CROWD was NOT hooting and shouting YEAHS. Tom, remember what Lionel Jefferson used to say, "Don't condemn a whole group of people, for the actions of a few."

Shame on you Tom Degan for your distortion. You need to go to confession.

I know it's boring as hell, but it's right here! The audacity!

And the fourth branch owns the other three...

If only he were there, that summer of 1787...

"By a declaration of rights, I mean one which shall stipulate freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of commerce against monopolies, trial by juries in all cases, no suspensions of the habeas corpus, no standing armies. These are fetters against doing evil which no honest government should decline." ..........Thomas Jefferson to Alexander Donald, February 7, 1788, Papers, 12:571

"Few would argue that corporations today are not only ubiquitous but have enormous power over our lives. Was it always like this? How did it get to be this way? And what are the implications of this situation for democracy? … Indeed, so much power and wealth has been amassed by corporations that they can be said to govern, presenting a mortal threat to our body politic. To use a medical analogy, when a surgeon cuts out a cancer, it's not to punish the cancer, it's to save the body. If we wish to prevent the total demise of democracy - rule by the people - then we must return corporations to their subservient role."